Found Deceased IA - Mollie Tibbetts, 20, Poweshiek County, 19 Jul 2018 #8

[Dushi]

Don’t assume that her last known clothing items mentioned, means that she disappeared while running. They just have to mention the last items someone saw her wearing (the neighbor). She could still have been taken from home.

True

And we do not know what LE found in the house.
They haven't mentioned anything

 

[gitana1]

I think that if they had nothing, they’d be providing more information, and not being coy with their answers to important questions. I take their lack of information as a very good thing. Some of these questions, especially concerning the timeline, they absolutely have more information on, but clearly don’t want to release that information.

Yeah I not know how much more clear the house can make it that they have info and they aren't releasing it.

 

[zencompass]

Exactly. Law enforcement has to play this close to the vest, much to the chagrin of the public. Just because they aren’t offering up much in the way of information, doesn’t mean they haven’t made progress. If they have a suspect, they may be presently conducting surveillance, and don’t want to hinder the investigation by tipping their hand. There is presently no indication of incompetence.

Thanks, MassGuy, for your post which I absolutely agree with.

As he stated, they have a timeline they are confident with.

I even wonder if they are more certain of when she disappeared but are not saying because they don't want to "alert" person(s) of interest.

Sometimes the wording at these press conferences is a bit evasive, in order for any person of interest to relax their guard. In addition, of course, to not tip their hand or jeopardize the investigation.

I believe they are aware of so much more than anyone realizes and I have great faith in this team.

To me, this press conference (as well as all of them) are worthwhile because they not only keep the missing person information in the public discourse but they continue to ask for tips to be called in. Hopefully this P.C. will jog someone's memory.

 

[Inthedetails]

Gasp! IMO, his face said we do have POI, and that's why we're not releasing any details....

I had a thought at that point was that if there is a POI, it is someone whose identity will be upsetting to learn. JMO

 

[pamelado2]

Sorry, I just can't go back and read everything since the PC, I am read out on this case!

One thought on the Friday press conference, I wondered if they decided - 'if we don't have Mollie by Friday werew going to involve the public more'. Otherwise why another PC so soon?

 

[Momma2cam]

Gosh that's not what I got at all. He seemed super confident. And I got the sense they have A LOT.

Did any of you notice the first two LE who spoke? They seemed choked up almost. Maybe the first one was just nervous. I don't know.

I'm pretty certain they believe it's a case of foul play. There seemed to be a lot of emotion there. They seem so vested in this.

It must be very difficult to work so hard and want so badly to find the girl and not be able to.

It is interesting to see different perceptions. I would assume our preconceived theories influence how the words (or lack thereof) and body language are interpreted.

I agree, though, that if they needed more information and specific tips from the general public, they would absolutely release a timeline. JMO.

 

[BRRI]

I’m in disagreement with many here. With the resources available to the FBI, that many agents and investigators working on this, technology, etc, I think LE knows plenty. I don’t believe that they really need much of the public’s help at all, and that this is strategy. At the minimum, we know they have to have a solid timeline just from her Fitbit data alone. I’m sure they have been searching information of those close to her, behind the scenes. No huge reward, no massive sense of urgency for the public’s help leads me to believe that they know most of what they need.

 

[2sharpe2]

Can't believe people leave there doors unlocked. We live in rural atea and the home invasions have skyrocketed. And many elderly murder victims. If LE thought that would reassure the local population and get the press of their backs , don't think it was helpful. JMO

I too live in a rural area about 1500 know abt 50 of them I keep my doors locked all the time also an alarm system never use to but lots of Meth heads robbing houses these days..sad..

 

[DoABarrelRoll]

I'm a bit confused, can someone help clear this up for me, please?:

Are there 2, separate, incidents of men seen photographing? One in Dubuques, where a man was caught on CCTV allegedly photographing two teenage joggers from inside his car. And a second, separate incident when a man, possibly in his 30s, photographing areas where MT was known to jog?

I apologize if I misstated any of that information. Is anyone able to set me straight, please and thank you!

 

[jkloc420]

BBM. It may compromise the investigation- I can think of a few ways. First of all, if they have a POI they probably want him/her to think they have no information..especially if they think MT is alive. If Mollie is alive it could be dangerous alerting a POI that they are onto them.

Second, if Mollie left of her own volition, maybe they don't want her thinking they believe she did/didn't so they don't scare her. If she did leave on her own, imagine what she must be feeling right now. She probably didn't anticipate how big this thing would get. I'd be scared, if I were her.

I definitely think that there is a concrete reason the investigators have for keeping all details of the investigation quiet. Frankly, it isn't for us to know right now. Fingers crossed she's ok and will be home soon.

either somebody close or they have nothing

 

[CJohnson9410]

RBBM

This.

"We don't know why Mollie is missing."

The way he worded this makes me wonder, too.



Yes, that was strange to me as well.

First post -

this is reminding me a little bit of Leanne Bearden and the mom that disappeared from her home (cant remember her name right now)

my take on the PC -
they know what happened, they dont know why

in my observations, they do not say a lot when there is a lot going on behind the scene or are close to conclusion

all is my opinion, but my gut is saying she willingly left and may not be found, and if so, not for a few months

 

[tigertales]

Here is a thought to ponder. Could it be a combination of factors. Maybe she left with someone she met through social media and that person or persons is involved in a cult and now she is in a situation where she cannot escape. LE may know where she is but cannot extract safely just yet.

It may sound far-fetched but sometimes people have secrets and they keep them from family and friends. LE could have found information on social media when looking at her digital footprint. It would fit with some of the family pleas that appear to be directed at her and not a perp.

 

[KaaBoom]

I also found it off-putting how much time they spent patting themselves on the back.

I agree. That seems to be the trend in police PCs these days. It was the same when they identified Buckskin Girl as Marcia King. Big press conference, lot's of high fiving each other. It looked like a freaking sports team pep rally after a victory. Now that they have identified her, have they done anything in the last four months to find who killed her? Of course not. They are not going to spend time looking for a killer in a 40 year old case. Even with all the new technology available to them to solve crimes, they solve less and less of them all the time.

 

[who knew?]

I feel like she willingly went with someone she knows. Maybe even someone she is attracted to. I know she is engaged, but she's only 20, and these things happen. Maybe the guy wants to convince her to stay with him, so she is being restrained?

Could it be a female? I doubt it could be, but I suppose there are crazies out there who would think they could eliminate the competition. (Remember the cheerleaders?)

If it were a sex offender, I believe there would be more info available in order to prevent other abductions. I don't think this has anything to do with SO's.

What about a stalker? Wouldn't there be people who were aware of this person? Mollie may have mentioned it to someone, or someone may have noticed him around Mollie. I suppose this is a possibility, but I'm not leaning this way.

Just some ideas running through my head. I think LE knows, and we won't know until they are ready to tell us.

 

[MargeGunderson]

Hope I'm wrong, but my takeaway is they don't have any idea what happened. They are stumped and have little to no evidence. Not even enough to really prove that there has been foul play. They even tried to leave some wiggle room about her leaving voluntarily. I mean, they said it wouldn't be like her to leave on her own (or something like that), but I don't see how saying something like "we do not believe she left voluntarily" would compromise anything.

Literally the only info they offered was:
- Last seen at 7:30 on July 18 in Brooklyn wearing black shorts, pink top, running shoes
- Didn't show up for work on July 19
- Leaving voluntarily wouldn't be consistent with what they know about her

I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't be able to answer some of the questions asked by the reporters even if they can't give specific answers, unless they just really don't know. And to be clear, I'm not blaming LE.

This sums it up for me too. I hadn't considered her leaving voluntarily to be much of an option for quite a while but it's moved back up my list after the presser. Not necessarily that it's even a leading possibility, but that it is still a possibility. It didn't occur to me really that they hadn't at least ruled that out but it doesn't sound like it. Also her dad said "Come home, it will be okay". Again, something that is more consistent with the idea she left voluntarily. The beginning part of the presser also sounded like a prelude to, now were are scaling back the operation after this huge operation has done so much work. I know they didn't say that. And they probably aren't scaling back yet. But their categorization of all of the work they've done so far sounded like it was setting up to move the investigation into a new, less acute, phase. I don't think they have enough evidence to say she left voluntarily. But I got the impression they don't have the evidence to say there has been a crime yet either. It's possible they have a POI for the scenario that she was abducted but not even enough evidence to say for sure she was abducted.

 

[Seattle1]

Don’t assume that her last known clothing items mentioned, means that she disappeared while running. They just have to mention the last items someone saw her wearing (the neighbor). She could still have been taken from home.

Exactly! The jogging clothes are the last items that could be verified (seen on school camera, and cited by at least 3 witnesses). Emphasis on verified.

 

[Skagirl]

Do you think it's possible that LE is hoping to come off like they don't know much in order to have the right person who knows something call in a tip? Just a thought...

 

[chi123]

Hope I'm wrong, but my takeaway is they don't have any idea what happened. They are stumped and have little to no evidence. Not even enough to really prove that there has been foul play. They even tried to leave some wiggle room about her leaving voluntarily. I mean, they said it wouldn't be like her to leave on her own (or something like that), but I don't see how saying something like "we do not believe she left voluntarily" would compromise anything.

Literally the only info they offered was:
- Last seen at 7:30 on July 18 in Brooklyn wearing black shorts, pink top, running shoes
- Didn't show up for work on July 19
- Leaving voluntarily wouldn't be consistent with what they know about her

I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't be able to answer some of the questions asked by the reporters even if they can't give specific answers, unless they just really don't know. And to be clear, I'm not blaming LE.

Agreed. Them not being able to even say that she didn't leave voluntarily pretty much sums it up.

And that's not an insult to LE, they have put massive resources into this case. It just seems there's little to go on. Even cell pings may not be quite as valuable in this case as last thread someone pointed out there's only 4 towers in the area and basically half the town is more than likely pinging off the closest one. That doesn't narrow much down, and the fitbit data is not even be usuable if it didn't transfer to the phone.

The time she was doing homework on the laptop seems to be the biggest clue.

 

[bellesnwhistles]

I'm a bit confused, can someone help clear this up for me, please?:

Are there 2, separate, incidents of men seen photographing? One in Dubuques, where a man was caught on CCTV allegedly photographing two teenage joggers from inside his car. And a second, separate incident when a man, possibly in his 30s, photographing areas where MT was known to jog?

I apologize if I misstated any of that information. Is anyone able to set me straight, please and thank you!

I believe the man on HLN was mistaken and there is only one man, who has NOT been named a suspect.

 

[Melanie1126]

LE only referenced "events on July 18th" as opposed to July 18th and 19th. Maybe not important but leads me to believe they think something happened to her that evening or night instead of the next morning as has been discussed (mostly due to missing red shirt).
I had previously thought that she did make it back from her run but now I don't know what to think. If she'd been out for a run, the dogs would have been up. I never take my wallet or money or ID when I run. I have been known to hide my keys in my unlocked car or around the outside of the house in order to keep from running with them. I also never run with my glasses so I guess it really depends on how bad her vision is. So to me, the setup that they found, wallet home, glasses home, contacts home, dogs put up, sounds like she never made it home. Until they confirm the SC time or the school log in I see nothing that leads me to believe she made it back.

 

[crhedBngr]

This, to me, is beginning to sound like one of those online meet-ups that may have turned out badly.

My first thought was if Mollie did leave voluntarily, wouldn't she have taken her contact lenses and/or glasses? Before I had LASIK done, I was as blind as the proverbial bat--couldn't see anything but blurred shapes.

But then, we really don't know what was found inside the house, do we?? LE has not released that info. Supposedly, one pair of glasses and her contacts were in the house, but I'm wondering if that is even true.

JMVHO.